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CDC Chief Urges Focus on Health Threats as Agency Confronts Political Changes

The Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), Sun Haiyan yesterday paid a courtesy call on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat. During the meeting, the IDCPC Vice Minister extended her congratulations to President Dissanayake on his victory in the Presidential Election and his party’s resounding success in the General Election. She commended the transformative changes in Sri Lanka following these wins, highlighting the emergence of a new and progressive political culture. Sun Haiyan, along with the Chinese delegation, expressed China’s readiness to collaborate with Sri Lanka under the leadership of President Dissanayake. They emphasized the alignment of the goals of both nations and discussed the potential for long-term cooperation on mutually beneficial grounds. The delegation reaffirmed China’s willingness to assist Sri Lanka in various developmental initiatives, including investments, technological exchanges, digitalisation, and uplifting the rural economy. Additionally, China pledged support for enhancing Sri Lanka’s Human Resource Development, particularly by providing training for officials in the education sector. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Government for its steadfast support and assured his commitment to fostering continued cooperation between the two nations. The Chinese delegation also included IDCPC Deputy Director General Lin Tao, IDCPC Director Li Jinyan, Secretary to the Vice Minister Jin Yan, Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong and several other officials. Joining President Dissanayake at this discussion were Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

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The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has reiterated its call to the government to seriously consider its proposal of setting up a public-private committee on energy to better manage national energy, following changes in America's energy policy under the incoming Donald Trump administration. The demand and supply of energy have become increasingly important as fossil-derived fuels are blamed for causing global warming. However, Trump has announced that he will support additional fossil fuel exploration and production in order to serve industry. "We need to keep an eye on what will come after this announcement," Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the FTI, told participants on Thursday at the 2024 Petroleum Outlook Forum, jointly held by national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc and the FTI's Petroleum Refining Industry Club. Amid this uncertainty, the Thai government needs to carefully plan the country's energy management. Authorities cannot work on this task alone, said Mr Kriengkrai. They need opinions from businesses on the government's controversial plan to pursue Thai-Cambodian talks on joint petroleum production in the overlapping claims area (OCA) that lies between the countries as well as a push for the development of a small modular reactor, a form of nuclear power technology. The FTI has been voicing concerns over high energy costs in Thailand, which will affect manufacturers' competitiveness. This is not good for the export sector, which is one of the country's key economic drivers. "The manufacturing sector would tend to employ fewer workers but consume more energy in the future," said Mr Kriengkrai. As businesses adopt more modern technologies, notably those utilised in the digital segment, they require more electricity to run their operations. The world is promoting a greater use of renewable energy, which has led to growing demand for clean electricity across various industries, including data centres and cloud services. Thailand earlier invited foreign firms specialising in data centre development to invest in the country, but these firms want the government to first clarify how it will be able to facilitate their purchases of clean power in Thailand. It is expected that the change in America's energy policy under a Trump presidency will affect Washington, DC's plan to achieve a net-zero target, a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption, by 2050. But Trump's support of the oil industry should be among the factors behind a decrease in global oil price fluctuations, preventing a surge in the price of goods in the US.

Canada's Trudeau says he had an 'excellent conversation' with Trump in Florida after tariffs threatWASHINGTON (AP) — For years, Pat Verhaeghe didn’t think highly of Donald Trump as a leader. Then Verhaeghe began seeing more of Trump’s campaign speeches online and his appearances at sporting events. There was even the former president’s pairing with Bryson DeChambeau as part of the pro golfer’s YouTube channel series to shoot an under-50 round of golf while engaging in chitchat with his partner. “I regret saying this, but a while ago I thought he was an idiot and that he wouldn’t be a good president,” said the 18-year-old first-time voter. “I think he’s a great guy now.” Verhaeghe isn't alone among his friends in suburban Detroit or young men across America. Although much of the electorate shifted right to varying degrees in 2024, young men were one of the groups that More than half of men under 30 supported Trump, , a survey of more than 120,000 voters, while Democrat Joe Biden had won a similar share of this group four years earlier. White men under 30 were solidly in Trump’s camp this year — about 6 in 10 voted for Trump — while young Latino men were split between the two candidates. Most Black men under 30 supported Democrat Kamala Harris, but about one-third were behind Trump. Young Latino men’s views of the Democratic Party were much more negative than in 2020, while young Black men’s views of the party didn’t really move. About 6 in 10 Latino men under 30 had a somewhat or very favorable view of the Democrats in 2020, which fell to about 4 in 10 this year. On the other hand, about two-thirds of young Black men had a favorable view of the Democrats this year, which was almost identical to how they saw the party four years ago. “Young Hispanic men, and really young men in general, they want to feel valued," said Rafael Struve, deputy communications director for Bienvenido, a conservative group that focused on reaching young Hispanic voters for Republicans this year. “They're looking for someone who fights for them, who sees their potential and not just their struggles.” Struve cited the during a July rally in Pennsylvania as one of the catalyzing moments for Trump’s image among many young men. Trump, Struve said, was also able to reach young men more effectively by like podcasts and digital media outlets. “Getting to hear from Trump directly, I think, really made all the difference," Struve said of the former president's appearances on digital media platforms and media catering to Latino communities, like town halls and business roundtables Trump attended in Las Vegas and Miami. Not only did Trump spend three hours on Joe Rogan's chart-topping podcast, but he took up DeChambeau's “Break 50” challenge for the golfer's more than 1.6 million YouTube subscribers. Trump already had an edge among young white men four years ago, although he widened the gap this year. About half of white men under 30 supported Trump in 2020, and slightly less than half supported Biden. Trump's were bigger. His support among both groups increased by about 20 percentage points, according to AP VoteCast — and their feelings toward Trump got warmer, too. It wasn’t just Trump. The share of young men who identified as Republicans in 2024 rose as well, mostly aligning with support for Trump across all three groups. “What is most alarming to me is that the election is clear that America has shifted right by a lot,” said William He, founder of Dream For America, a liberal group that works to turn out young voters and supported Harris’ presidential bid. With his bombastic demeanor and a policy agenda centered on a more , Trump framed much of his campaign as a pitch to men who felt scorned by the country’s economy, culture and political system. Young women also slightly swung toward the former president, though not to the degree of their male counterparts. It's unclear how many men simply did not vote this year. But there's no doubt the last four years brought changes in youth culture and how political campaigns set out to reach younger voters. Democrat Kamala Harris' campaign rolled out policy agendas tailored to Black and Latino men, and the campaign enlisted a range of leaders in Black and Hispanic communities to make the case for the vice president. Her campaign began with a from many young voters, epitomized in memes and the campaign's embrace of pop culture trends like the pop star . Democrats hoped to channel that energy into their youth voter mobilization efforts. “I think most young voters just didn’t hear the message,” said Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, a liberal group that engages younger voters. Mayer said the Harris campaign’s pitch to the country was “largely convoluted” and centered on economic messaging that he said wasn’t easily conveyed to younger voters who were not already coming to political media. “And I think that the policies themselves were also very narrow and targeted when what we really needed was a simple, bold economic vision,” said Mayer. Trump also embraced pop culture by appearing at UFC fights, football games and appearing alongside comedians, music stars and social media influencers. His strategists believed that the former president’s ability to grab attention and make his remarks go viral did more for the campaign than paid advertisements or traditional media appearances. Trump's campaign also heavily cultivated networks of online conservative platforms and personalities supportive of him while also engaging a broader universe of podcasts, streaming sites, digital media channels and meme pages open to hearing him. “The right has been wildly successful in infiltrating youth political culture online and on campus in the last couple of years, thus radicalizing young people towards extremism,” said He, who cited conservative activist groups like Turning Point USA as having an outsize impact in online discourse. “And Democrats have been running campaigns in a very old fashioned way. The battleground these days is cultural and increasingly on the internet.” Republicans may lose their broad support if they don't deliver on improving Americans' lives, Struve cautioned. Young men, especially, may drift from the party in a post-Trump era if the party loses the president-elect's authenticity and bravado. Bienvenido, for one group, will double down in the coming years to solidify and accelerate the voting pattern shifts seen this year, Struve said. “We don’t want this to be a one and done thing,” he said. ___ Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, and AP polling editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed to this report. Matt Brown, The Associated Press